CREATORSCREATOR GUIDE
What UGC is and how to become a UGC creator: portfolio, rates and usage rights
UGC stands for user-generated content: the photos, videos and reviews made by people rather than by the brand. A UGC creator is someone who is paid to produce content in that style so that the brand can publish it on its own channels: its ads, its profile, its website or its online shop. Unlike an influencer, a UGC creator sells their work, not the reach of their audience, so they do not need a large following. What they charge depends on the video and, above all, on the usage rights they grant: for how long, on which channels and in which countries the brand may use it.
What UGC is: from customer content to the UGC creator
In its original sense, UGC is what customers post about a product of their own accord: a review, a photo on their profile or a video showing how they use it. Nobody commissions it or pays for it, which is why it feels credible: it is one person telling another about their experience.
When brands wanted to bring that natural feel to their ads and profiles, they began to commission it. That is how the UGC creator came about: someone who, working from a brand’s instructions (the brief), shoots videos or photos in the style of a customer and delivers them so the brand can use them as agreed. It looks like a user’s content, but it is professional work and is paid as such.
When someone searches for “what is UGC”, they may mean either of the two. This guide is about the second: UGC as work for creators. If you are a brand looking for creators for your content, on VIVIO Club you publish your collaboration and verified creators apply to take part.
UGC creator or influencer: how they differ
Both create content for brands, but the brand pays each of them for different things:
| What changes | UGC creator | Influencer |
|---|---|---|
| Where it is published | On the brand’s channels: its ads, its profile, its website or its online shop | On your profile, for your audience |
| What the brand pays for | Your production work and the rights to use the content | Access to your audience, as well as the content |
| Followers | Not a requirement: the brand is not buying your reach | They count, along with who your audience is and how it engages |
| What is measured | How the video performs on the brand’s channels: whether it holds attention and drives clicks or sales | The reach and engagement of your post |
| Usage rights | The core of the price | Negotiated separately if the brand wants to run ads with your post |
Types of UGC content brands ask for
Almost every job is a short vertical video, made to be watched on a phone, often without sound and with subtitles. These are the most common formats:
Review or testimonial
You tell the camera what you think of the product after using it, as you would tell a friend. It is the format closest to the original UGC.
Unboxing and first impressions
You open the package and show what is inside, how it is presented and what stands out. It suits physical products and gifts.
Tutorial or demo
You show step by step how to use it or answer a specific question. It is the format that best helps people who are already interested to decide.
Problem and solution
You start with a problem your audience recognises and show how the product solves it. It is one of the formats most used in ads.
Before and after
Only with real results, achieved with the product and without edits that exaggerate them. In cosmetics, health or food, do not claim the product does something the brand cannot prove.
Without appearing on camera
Hands, product, screen and voiceover. It is a way to do UGC if you would rather not show your face, and many brands ask for it for online shops and tutorials.
The hook, in the first few seconds
Whatever the format, the opening decides whether people keep watching. Many brands ask for several versions of the same video with different hooks to test which works best in their ads: each variant is paid for.
How to become a UGC creator, step by step
1. Choose one or two niches
Start with what you know and use: beauty, cooking, tech, pets, sport or travel. A brand trusts someone who already talks about its category with ease.
2. Put together simple kit
A recent phone, natural light or a lamp, a tidy background and, if you can, a lapel microphone. That covers most jobs; what shows most is the sound.
3. Shoot your first sample pieces
Make three to five videos with products you already own, in different formats. Do not present them as work for those brands: they are examples of what you can do.
4. Build your portfolio
Gather the samples in a link that is easy to open, with who you are, what you offer and how to contact you. We explain what to include below.
5. Decide how you charge
A price per video or per package, what each includes and how you charge for usage rights. Being clear before the first conversation stops you accepting terms that do not suit you.
6. Find your first clients
Write to brands that already work with creators and sign up to the platforms where brands look for content.
7. Sign before you shoot
Make sure the job, the price, the deadlines and the usage rights are in writing before you start. In Mexico, the law also requires any transfer of rights to be in writing.
How to build a UGC portfolio
Your portfolio is your calling card as a UGC creator: it shows your work, not your audience. A brand looks at it to answer one question: can this person make the video I need?
If you also post for brands on your profile, you will need a media kit as well, which sums up your audience and your metrics. For UGC work, the portfolio is what matters.
Six to ten videos
Vertical, in different formats (review, unboxing, tutorial, problem and solution) and with the best first. Better a few good ones than many similar ones.
Context for each piece
In one line: format, goal and sector. If it was a commission and the brand gave you results and permission to show them, add them.
Who you are
Your name, a photo, your niches and where you film from. State your language and accent: many brands choose Spanish from Spain or from Mexico depending on their market.
What you offer
The formats you make, whether you appear on camera, what each delivery includes (length, variants, subtitles, raw footage) and your usual turnaround.
A link that opens without permissions
A web page, a shared folder or a document with the videos embedded. Check it from another device without signing in.
How to contact you
An email address you check daily and your profiles. If an agency represents you, its contact details.
How much a UGC creator charges and how to set a price
There is no correct rate for a UGC video. What each creator charges depends on their experience, their niche, what the video costs to produce and, above all, what the brand will do with it. That is why this guide gives no figures: it explains what the price is made of so you can work it out and negotiate it.
If you accept a product or an experience as payment, still put in writing what you deliver and what the brand may do with the content.
The video
A price per piece based on its length and complexity: a review to camera does not cost the same as a tutorial with several takes and locations.
Packages
Several videos for the same brand, or the same video with several hooks. They make it easier to say yes and keep you working for longer.
Usage rights, separately
For how long, on which channels and in which countries the brand may use the content. Using it in paid ads is worth more than posting it only on its profile, and a year is worth more than three months.
Extras
Raw footage, hook variants, subtitles, versions in another format, rush deliveries or exclusivity in the sector. Each one is quoted.
Rounds of changes
How many the price includes and what counts as a change: trimming a shot is not the same as reshooting the video.
Usage rights: what the contract has to say
You create the video, and the brand uses it under the rights you grant. The clearer they are in writing, the fewer arguments there will be and the better each use will be paid. Before you sign, check that the contract answers all of this:
Term
How long the brand may use the content. Be wary of “in perpetuity” or a transfer with no time limit unless it is paid as such.
Channels
Its profile, its paid ads, its website, its online shop, email or offline media. Each channel is granted expressly.
Countries
Where it may be used. A campaign in Spain and Mexico is not the same as a worldwide one.
Ads run with your profile
If the brand wants to advertise your post under your name, with Spark Ads on TikTok or partnership ads on Instagram and Facebook, that is a different use and is negotiated separately. On TikTok, the “Allow brands to use your posts” setting lets any brand you mention boost your videos as Spark Ads with no extra steps: TikTok gives you rewards based on how the ad performs, but you no longer negotiate that use. You can turn it off to review each invite.
Exclusivity
Whether the brand asks you not to work with its competitors: in which category, in which countries and for how long. Exclusivity is paid for separately.
Changes to the video
Whether the brand may cut it, add text or music, or combine it with other content.
Your image and your voice
What the brand may use them for, and whether it may use them to train or generate content with artificial intelligence. If you do not want that, have the contract prohibit it expressly.
What the law says in Spain and Mexico if the contract is silent
If the contract falls short, the law fills the gaps, though not always in your favour. These are the rules that matter most to a UGC creator:
| If the contract does not say | Spain | Mexico |
|---|---|---|
| Term of the transfer | Five years, if no term is stated (Intellectual Property Law, art. 43) | Five years, absent an express agreement; more than fifteen only exceptionally (Federal Copyright Law, art. 33) |
| Other rules | With no territory, the transfer is limited to the country where it is signed; if the uses are not detailed, it covers only those essential to what was contracted (art. 43) | The transfer must be in writing, or it is void, and it is always temporary and paid (arts. 30 and 31) |
| Your image and your voice | Using your name, voice or image for advertising without your express consent is an unlawful intrusion (Organic Law 1/1982, arts. 2 and 7) | The image and voice of performers may only be used with their express consent, including in anything generated with artificial intelligence (art. 87) |
When it has to be labelled as advertising
If the brand publishes your video as an ad from its account, the platform already shows it as advertising. If you also post it on your profile because a brand pays you or gives you something in return, you have to label it: on Instagram and Facebook, with the paid partnership label; on TikTok, with the branded content disclosure and by tagging the brand as a partner. Advertising rules require ads to be distinguishable as such.
Where to find clients as a UGC creator
Brands that already advertise with creators
In the Meta Ad Library you can see any brand’s active ads. If it already uses creator videos, it knows what UGC is and is a good candidate to write to.
A short, specific email
Three or four lines: who you are, why you fit that brand, a video idea for it and the link to your portfolio. If they do not reply, one reminder after a week or two is enough.
TikTok One and Creator Marketplace
TikTok’s official platform for working with brands, available in Spain and Mexico. TikTok invites or accepts applications based on age, followers, content and engagement, and requires a personal or creator account.
Meta’s Creator Marketplace
The space on Instagram and Facebook where brands look for creators to work with.
Collaboration platforms
In the VIVIO Club app, with more than 3,000 verified creators, brands publish their collaborations and you apply for the ones that suit you. Collaborating is free for creators.
Repeat clients
A happy brand comes back for more, and each new job takes less effort to win than the first. Deliver on time, ask what worked and suggest the next idea.
Common mistakes when starting out in UGC
Shooting with nothing in writing
Without a contract, there is no way to claim payment or to limit how the video is used.
Granting rights with no term or limits
“Forever, on every channel and worldwide” is the most valuable transfer you can make: if you accept it, make sure it is paid as such.
Charging only for the video
If the price does not separate production from usage rights, you have no basis later to charge for a new use, such as moving the video from the brand’s profile to its ads.
A portfolio with a single format
Ten identical reviews do not show what you can do. Mix formats and niches you know well.
Promising what the product does not do
Stick to what the brand can prove and to your real experience: it is your face saying it.
Giving away the raw footage
The original takes let the brand cut new videos without you. If it asks for them, quote for them.
When it makes sense to have someone work with you
If you have a recognisable proposition and want to do this with structure, VIVIO Representation, a selective service, looks for brands that suit you, negotiates each deal (usage rights included) always subject to your approval and handles the follow-up. If you already have an offer in front of you, Contract Shield reviews its terms (rights granted, use in ads, Spark Ads, exclusivity and image) and tells you what is worth negotiating before you sign. And if your community already trusts what you recommend, VIVIO Creator Business builds with you a business of your own that uses your audience as a sales channel.
You can also start on your own in the VIVIO Club app, where brands publish their collaborations and you apply for the ones that suit you.
See Representation ↗See Contract Shield ↗See Creator Business ↗VIVIO Club for creators ↗
Frequently asked questions about UGC
What is UGC?
It stands for user-generated content: photos, videos and reviews made by people rather than by the brand. Today the term also covers content in that natural style that brands commission from creators to use in their ads, their profile or their website.
What does a UGC creator do?
They shoot videos or photos from a brand’s instructions and deliver them so the brand can publish them on its own channels. They are paid for their production work and for the usage rights they grant, not for the reach of their audience.
Do I need followers to be a UGC creator?
No. Because the content is published on the brand’s channels, what matters is that you can make the video it needs, and you prove that with a portfolio. Followers count if the brand also wants you to post it on your profile.
How much does a UGC creator charge?
There is no fixed rate: it depends on your experience, on what the video costs to produce and, above all, on the usage rights. Using the video in paid ads, for longer or in more countries, or asking for exclusivity, is charged on top of the video.
Can you do UGC without showing your face?
Yes. Many jobs are done with hands, product, screen and voiceover, especially for online shops and tutorials. Say so in your portfolio.
What happens if the contract does not say how long the brand may use my video?
In Spain, the Intellectual Property Law then limits the transfer to five years and to the country where it was signed; in Mexico, the Federal Copyright Law treats it as made for five years. Even so, it is best for the term, channels and countries always to be in writing.
How does a UGC creator invoice?
Like any creator: in Spain, if you are paid on a regular basis, you would normally register as self-employed (autónomo); in Mexico, you need to be registered in the RFC and issue a CFDI for each payment. We explain this in more detail in the VIVIO Creators FAQ.
Sources
- TikTok Creator Academy: collecting more rewards through brand tagging and Spark Ad authorization
- TikTok Creator Academy: TikTok Creator Marketplace
- Meta for Creators: earn from brands
- Meta Ad Library
- BOE: Spain’s Intellectual Property Law (Royal Legislative Decree 1/1996), article 43
- BOE: Spain’s Organic Law 1/1982 on the right to honour, personal and family privacy and one’s own image
- Mexican Chamber of Deputies: Federal Copyright Law (latest amendment, DOF 14 May 2026)